Free Republic

On Tuesday morning, 14-year-old Ta’veon Tashawn Mason should have been at his desk at Austin High School, but he and two friends skipped school. Police said the ninth-grader died in a Southwest Decatur backyard from a single gunshot wound. A press release said a resident shot him inside the house during a burglary at about 10:30 a.m. Noel Mclean at 1432 Fifth Ave. S.W. said he shot Mason. He said he was awakened by the intruders and he shot out of fear. One of three suspects Lt. Jonathan Green, public information officer, said Mason was one of three teen boys...

A Walker County man who authorities say shot up a bingo hall Saturday night during a robbery was shot and killed by a security guard, according to the Walker County sheriff. William G. Cantrell Jr., 43, was declared dead at the scene after he was shot multiple times by a security guard at It's Your Lucky Day Charity Bingo at 20 Pineywoods Sipsey Road, Walker County Sheriff John Mark Tirey said. According to Tirey, Cantrell entered through the front door around 11 p.m., fired his shotgun into the ceiling and yelled: "This is a robbery. Everybody get out of here."...

The adoptive mother of a teen charged with capital murder of an acquaintance who was killed while the two were robbing someone Sunday said her son was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Malik Hameed, 17, is remorseful over his involvement in a weekend robbery that left his accomplice, a family friend, dead, said his mother, Hamidah Hameed, 56. "All he's been doing is crying and asking me to come get him," Hamidah Hameed said. "He keeps saying, `Mama, I'm sorry.' I told him he had a chance to think and make a different choice, but he didn't...

The Associated Press Law officers have praised a bank customer who pulled his gun and helped deputies capture a gunman who opened fire during a robbery of a Wachovia branch, killing two tellers and wounding two. Chris Chappell, who was in the bank Monday morning getting $40 in change on the way to his job in Adger, fled the bank when gunshots rang out, drew a gun for which he has a concealed weapon permit, took cover by his sport utility vehicle and alerted deputies who came up. The gunman, cornered by Chappell and the deputies when he tried to...

One man was shot and killed as he allegedly broke into a residence at 900 Julia Street just before 4 a.m. today (more) http://blog.al.com/breaking/2007/04/huntsville_homeowner_kills_int.html

Montgomery (AP) - Police say a 34-year-old Montgomery man was shot and killed when he allegedly attacked a 72-year-old man Friday night in west Montgomery. Captain Huey Thornton, a police spokesman, said Jack Sanchez was pronounced dead around 10 p-m. Thornton said the shooting occurred after Sanchez kicked the man's truck as he drove by. He said when the older man got out to inspect his vehicle, Sanchez attacked him. Police did not release the shooter's name because he was not arrested. Thornton said the case will be sent to a grand jury to determine if any charges are warranted.

A Yellow Cab Co. driver told police he shot and killed a man Saturday night who had robbed him and then had tried to put him in the trunk of his cab. The shooting victim was identified Sunday as Roderick McGraw, 52, of Pinson, said Lt. Henry Irby of the Birmingham Police Department. The death is the city's 84th homicide of 2006, compared to 76 at this time last year. The taxi driver was questioned and released Saturday pending a review by the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, Irby said.

Auto parts owner, 74, opens fire on robbers Friday, March 17, 2006CAROL ROBINSONNews staff writer A 74-year-old Birmingham shop owner stared into the barrel of a gun inches from his face Thursday, but said he felt no fear. Joe Montabana could see there were no cartridges in the cylinder of the snub-nosed revolver. It was brandished by a bad guy and pointed straight at him. Montabana got angry. And he fought back. The longtime owner of Joe's Auto Parts near the Kingston community grabbed his own revolver, and moments later unleashed five shots toward the would-be robber. "When he...